Media centre

Thursday 10 Oct 2024

2,608 lives saved on the railway across the south of England in just five years

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

| Southern

| Southern: Kent

| Southern: Network Rail High Speed

| Southern: Sussex

• New figures reveal that the Rail Suicide Prevention Programme has carried out over 2,600 potentially life-saving interventions across Network Rail’s Southern region
• Nationally, over 27,000 interventions have been made since the partnership with Samaritans and the British Transport Police began in 2010.
• Partnership helps raise awareness about suicide prevention and provides specialist training for rail industry staff to help identify and support a vulnerable person

This World Mental Health Day (Thursday 10 October 2024), Network Rail’s Southern Region has announced a new milestone with its Rail Suicide Prevention Programme as more than 2,600 interventions have been made across the South of England.

In the last five years, there were 2,608 interventions made across Network Rail’s Southern region, which incorporates its Wessex, Sussex and Kent routes, serving rail passengers and freight operators right across the south of England, from Devon in the West to Kent in the East.

There were 1,077 interventions made across the Wessex route, which serves stations across Surrey, Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset and Devon that feed into London Waterloo. On the Kent route, 818 interventions were made, while Sussex route saw 713 staff making welfare interventions.

Over the last year alone (2023-24), 211 interventions were made on the Wessex route, while the Kent route saw 123 interventions and the Sussex route saw 144 interventions. Nationally, 1,937 interventions were made on the rail network in Britain through the support of the partnership which has been delivered through Network Rail, Samaritans, British Transport Police. In the last five years, over 27,000 potentially life-saving interventions have been made.

The partnership, which was established in 2010, aims to provide specialist training for rail staff, and partners to raise public awareness about suicide prevention and teaches them the best ways to approach vulnerable people and the signs to look out for to see if someone needs help, these can range from simply talking to them or calling for further professional assistance.

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s Southern region managing director, said: “I’m proud of all our staff who have been trained in suicide prevention techniques through the Samaritans and have taken their learning and used it to support those going through times of distress. 

“We really care for people who use our railway and we've intervened across our network many times. 

“I would encourage anyone who is struggling with their mental health, or knows someone in need of support, to speak to a friend, family member or trusted colleague, or contact the Samaritans for help and advice.”

Louise McNally, Network Rail’s suicide prevention lead, said: “It’s a great achievement to see that over 27,000 potentially life-saving interventions have been made to help support and identify vulnerable people across the rail network who may be at risk of suicide.

“The Rail Suicide Prevention Programme helps us, as an entire industry, respond as effectively as we can to the many people that are presenting on the railway either in distress, in crisis, or struggling to cope. It also provides invaluable support to those members of the workforce who find themselves involved in some difficult incidents.”

Network Rail continues to work closely with the Samaritans to train thousands of frontline railway staff with the skills to identify vulnerable individuals and confidently intervene.

Dave Brown, Samaritans senior programme manager for rail, commented: “Our partnership with Network Rail has been running for over 14 years and the impact it has had on saving lives has been huge. By equipping rail staff with the knowledge and confidence to help vulnerable people in distress, we ensure lives are saved each year.”

To date, more than 30,000 rail employees and British Transport Police officers have been trained in suicide prevention techniques through the Samaritans’ ‘Managing Suicidal Contacts’ course. This training has enabled staff to recognise the signs of someone in distress and offer assistance in critical moments.